In my last post I outlined how through Christ we bask in the light of God and become the avenue of redemption for God on this old earth.  Our mission is to let the light of Christ reflect from our lives so that others will follow.  In doing so we are preparing for the day when “the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it” (Rev 21:26  Our primary purpose is to live and build the glory and honor for God on that day.  This drives our worship, mission, and life.

But we take our Light for granted WAY to often.  It’s tempting to focus on the prize at the expense of our mission to build the glory and honor for God. One of the most convicting songs written and performed by the late Keith Green:

The world is sleeping in the dark,

That the church can’t fight, cause it’s asleep in the light,

How can you be so dead, when you’ve been so well fed,

Jesus rose from the grave, and you, you can’t even get out of bed,

Oh, Jesus rose from the dead, come on, get out of your bed.

What a rallying cry for us.  We are blessed with the comfort of eternal life and guidance from God through the Spirit.  Put it to work.

A man had a great dream and he had the confidence of one who could visualize success.  He knew he would be successful so he left his job as a laborer and worked full-time on the endeavor of his dreams.

He chose his few employees carefully, their pay was meager.  He promised them that the number of helpers would grow and the rewards for their loyalty would be without equal.

For three years the man worked toward his vision.  Marketing surveys were done to the point he knew what the people were thinking.  He advertised throughout the area and held promotional stunts to set up for his grand opening.  He would pull into the area towns and know that people were expecting something unusual to happen.  He would do anything to advertise, he had the people’s attention.  While not everyone responded positively, people were lining up to be a part of his vision.

The day of the grand opening arrived.  In his moment of triumph he knew that years of toiling, late nights working, and the life of a traveling salesman were about to pay off.  He had truly set up the greatest business of all time.  This was the moment the people were waiting for.

“All the glory is due you! You are the Holy One! You’re the One, You’re the only One!”

I listen as my family and I sing these words. We sit together as one unit, one band of people suffering through a tragic loss; if you only knew what we had been through. You wouldn’t believe it if you could hear us singing these words with all of our hearts. You wouldn’t believe that just a little over a month ago, we lost one of our family members to cancer. A little girl, we loved her without measure and now she is gone. We are upset and we do struggle through life sometimes. However, you would never believe it if you could hear us now. We hold our heads high as we show God that we trust His judgment. “You’re the One, You’re the only One!” We know it, we believe it, and we sing it with pride… together.

Chelsea Chaney is a 17 year old Christian who loves God and Christ.  She is a leader and inspiration to her family and friends.  In addition to being active in the church, she is the captain of the high school varsity cheer squad, senior class president, student council president, book club president, and publicist for the Spanish club.

And my daughter…

Practical Christian application:

1.  We have confidence in an eternal reward through Christ
2.  It’s impossible for us to fully understand God’s will
3.  God wants us to have patience, know that evil will not prevail, and to fully place our trust in Him

Last week we lost a 15 year old family member after a lengthy battle with cancer.  Her struggle was featured in a post by her grandfather last month.   As I prepared to officiate over her funeral I thought it was appropriate to share on this blog the comfort our family found through God.

Over and over family members and friends in the community asked how God could let something so terrible happen to someone so young.  A close friend who had lost his wife in a tragic car accident years earlier had great counsel to me.  Part of his word he took from a message Billy Graham delivered on the National Day of Prayer, September 14, 2001

I’ve been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I really do not know the answer totally, even to my own satisfaction. I have to accept by faith that God is sovereign, and He’s a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering. Full message here

Our family found great comfort in suffering knowing that God is a loving God even though we may not know why such tragic things happen.  We choose to trust God.